In his earlier comments, Taylor told BBC Radio 5 Live: "He would not be the first person or persons to have been found guilty and maintained their innocence and then been proved right.

"If we are talking about things in football, we know what happened, what was alleged to have happened at Hillsborough.

“And it's now unravelling and we are finding it was very different to how it was portrayed at the time - indeed by the police at the time."

Convicted rapist Chedwin Evans

This is not the first time the 70-year-old former player-turned-union leader has come under scrutiny. In 2012, he answered allegations that he had amassed a large gambling debt by stating he was still fit to run the PFA. Taylor reportedly ran up arrears of £100,000 to a bookmaker, despite having advocated a “zero tolerance” policy towards footballers that gamble.

“I have never claimed to be holier than thou,” he told Sky Sports News at the time.

Oldham had been expected to announce it would sign the striker on Monday but the prospect triggered a change.org petition that became one of the fastest growing in the site's history, attracting a signature every second at one point.

This prompted widespread reports that the club was having second thoughts.

It rigidly refused to contribute to speculation about Evans' future throughout Monday and Tuesday, as the debate about the ethics of signing a convicted rapist played out on social media and in the press.

Evans, who previously played for Manchester City, was jailed in April 2012 for raping a woman in a hotel room in Rhyl, north Wales.